Unexpected Visitors
by Biisaiyowaq
Summary: After inadvertently ending up at Danny's after getting lost, Paulina and Star find themselves determined to figure out what he's hiding from them after noticing some suspicious things about him. I don't own Danny Phantom! Review or I'll stop updating!
1. Lost and Found

"Pauliinnnaaaa!" Star whined in an annoying voice, "It's been _hours_! Are you sure you know where we are?" Paulina bit her lip nervously and looked around once more,

"Ummm…We _might_ have taken a few wrong turns, but it's not like we accidentally walked into the next town." _'I think…'_ she added silently,

"But are you suurrreeee?" Paulina turned to look at Star, irritated to the point that she was almost twitching,

"No Star! Again! That's probably the seventh time you've asked me in the last five minutes!" Star took this in and stayed quiet for awhile, looking around the street nervously. Red-brick apartment-like houses, row after row… where were they? Bore-ville? They had been up at a party the other night and had decided to stay at a girl-friend's house until the next day, but had to leave at five o'clock because Paulina had wanted to be there when her favorite store opened at its long-awaited spring sale began. Unfortunately, both girls had been half-asleep when they left the house. By now the sale had begun, most of the good stuff had already been taken, and the girls were nowhere closer than when they began. _'Argh! How could this happen to me? And why today of all days?'_ Paulina wouldn't admit it, but she had no clue where they were, and her feet hurt so much she was almost ready to give up and rub her poor feet. She was about to turn to Star and admit defeat when she saw it, a giant, flying, mechanical _ghost_. Star saw it too, and Paulina a had to lunge and cover her mouth before she started screaming and giving the ghost a reason to notice them.

"Ahh-mphmmm!"

"Shhhh! Star, _shut up_! Do you _want_ the ghost to notice us?" Paulina hissed furiously,

"Mmm-mmmph." Star replied hesitantly, then her eyes widened and she began to struggle violently,

"Star, _Star_! What's wrong!" Paulina said, trying to stay in control of her opposing friend,

"I believe that would be me." Came a oily, mechanical, _evil_ voice. Paulina whipped around…and came face-to-face with the robotic menace known as Skulker. Her hand slipped a fraction and Star let out a blood-chilling scream, Paulina couldn't move, she was frozen in place. _'No, no, no, no, NO! MOVE PAULINA!'_ her mind was racing one hundred miles an hour, but her body wouldn't even move one. Skulker seemed to tire of her staring at him, so he made a move, "Boo." He whispered softly, that was enough to jump-start her body.

With a last scream she bolted, catching up with Star along the way. Skulker laughed and his jet-wings opened, he jumped into the air and followed in pursuit. The girls looked behind them, then began to hesitantly slow down, until Paulina happened to look up. Skulker was flying down to them, missiles ready to launch. She started running again, not even taking the time to tell Star why. Star got the message.

After what seemed like hours, the two lost sight of Skulker and stopped.

"-Huff- Do you –huff- think –huff- that –puff- we lost him? –huff-" Star was exhausted,

" – Puff- Yeah, - huff- I think that – puff- we did. – huff- _Ai!_ My – huff- new shoes!" Paulina was furious, the dumb, stupid, mechanical ghost! It just had to pick today to terrorize them! And her, running in her new designer shoes! That ghost was going to pay… Wow, she sounded a lot like the Red Huntress. She looked around once again, apartment-house, apartment-house, Fenton-Works Sign, apartment-house… Wait, Fenton-Works? She knew that place! It was where that kid, Dash's punching bag, ummm… Fen-turd, Fentonia… Fenton! Yeah, Fenton! Danny Fenton, lived! She inwardly shuddered at the thought of asking part of the _loser_ crew for help, but what was a girl to do?

"Hey – huff- Star, see that? It's where one of the loser crew lives!"

"So?"

"So we can ask for help, or directions or something!" Paulina was exasperated, was Star really this blonde?

"Oh, but why would we ask one of them for help? It's not that creepy goth-girl lives is it?"

"Ugh, no! I don't think anyone but them knows where she lives. Probably in the sewers or something. This is Fenton's house, Danny Fenton's house." Star looked at her blankly, "Dash's punching bag?"

"Oh! I know him!" Paulina rolled her eyes but smiled, seriously, how could they _live_ like that? Being the bottom of the social ladder, and actually being _happy_ with it! It was completely incomprehensible to her that anyone would want to be like that! _'Then again they aren't anyone…'_ By this time they were at the front steps and it was starting to drizzle. Paulina knocked on the door, once, twice, three tim-

"Yeah?" Just as she was going to knock again, someone opened the door and she ended up rapping on their chest. Their toned, hard, _muscular_ chest. She looked up and gaped in shock; it was none other than Danny Fenton. In nothing but a pair of jeans. No socks, shoes, or… shirt. Star had walked up and gaped as well, this was _definitely_ not the Danny they knew.

"Uhh… Danny?" His unfocused, half-awake eyes cleared a bit,

"Paulina? Star? What are you doing here this early? In fact, what are you doing here at all?"

"Ummm… We got lost, and then this scary robot ghost chased us forever, and now it's raining…" Paulina left off, hoping he would get the message.

"Huh?" Suddenly his eyes focused and he stood taller, "Wait! A robot ghost? Did it have green flames for hair?"

"Uh, yeah, it's wet out here."

"Oh! Sorry, come in!"

"Where's your parents? And Jazz?" Star piped up, slightly shy with this new Danny,

"They're all checking out this college that Jazz has been thinking about."

"So you're here alone?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

While Star had been asking questions, Paulina had been discreetly looking around. The first thing she notices was Danny. He must have had a growth-spurt, because he was know catching up with Dash, and where Dash had bulk, Danny had a sort of lithe grace about him. Not saying that he didn't have muscles, because he sure wasn't short on _those_. Their furniture looked a bit used, but not filthy or completely run-down; just like everything else in the house.

"Hey, Danny," Paulina started, "Why did you answer the door like, well, _that_?..."

"Huh?" Danny looked down at himself for a moment before blushing, "Sorry, doing laundry. Dad went up to my room to show me one of his new experiments before he left and it kinda got everywhere."

"…Oh." There was an awkward silence among the three until Danny spoke up again.

"So… Do you need a ride or something?" Both girls looked at each other,

_'No. We can't leave now! We have to find out what's up with Fenton!'_

_ 'You're right, something is _definitely_ up.' _

"No." The girls chorused together.


	2. Of Killer Food and Doors

_"No." the girls chorused._

_'Why do I feel like I'm missing something?'_ Danny thought as he led the girls into the kitchen,

"Are you sure? I'm really if okay if-"

"No!" Paulina said unusually forcefully, then quickly amended it, "I, uh, mean that… We really wouldn't want to keep you from, er, cleaning up your goop. If you'll just give us some directions after the rain stops we can walk there. Okay?"

"Walking? But Paulina! I thought that you said-" Star let out an 'oomph' as Paulina discreetly elbowed her painfully in the ribs,

"What?" Danny said, confusion clearly spread across his face,

"Oh, nothing! Just a silly conversation we were having before we, uh, found our way here! Nothing to worry about, _right Star_?"

"Yeah, nothing to worry about…" Star grumbled a bit sourly as she rubbed her sore ribs,

"See Danny? We're just fine." Danny looked uncertain, but didn't say anything else about it, 'Now if only the rain holds out long enough…'

"Well, if you need anything, just root around the kitchen for it; but whatever you do, don't open the fridge." Paulina and Star shared uncertain looks before turning to Danny, "I'm going to finish de-ectofying my room okay?"

"Hmm…? Oh, sure Danny, that's just fine."

"Well, okay… Hold on a minute." Danny ran by them to a door near the base of the stairs (A/N: not sure exactly where the door that leads to the lab is…) and took a key out of his pocket. After making sure it was locked he turned back to them, "Uh," he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly for a second, "Well, there's some dangerous stuff down there, and I really don't want you guys to get hurt or something. See ya later then?" With that he ran back up the stars to his room, Paulina heard a door close loudly and waited a moment before talking to Star.

"Hey, Star?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Umm… I don't know? Hey, are you thirsty? 'Cause I am; I'm going to the kitchen to get something."

"Oh, okay then." Paulina watched Star walk out of the room for a minute before turning back to the room in front of her, _'Now if I were a loser - er – Danny, where would I hide something suspicious?'_ She walked to the coffee table and was about to look under it when she heard Star scream,

"Ahhhhhh! Danny! Paulina! Someone with a really big fork! HELP ME!!!" Paulina ran to the kitchen to see what had scared her friend, _'Someone with a fork? What scared her? A twinkie monster?'_ When she rounded the corner she fell backwards, landing on her butt, the fridge was open… and Star was being cornered by…hotdogs (HA! I bet you thought they _were _going to be twinkie monsters!). Hotdogs with eyes, teeth, and legs; that _glowed_.

"Star! Why did you open the fridge? Danny told us not to!"

"B-Because I w-wanted something to – AHHH!!!" just then one of the hotdogs lunged for Star's leg, and she jumped onto the counter to avoid being bitten.

"Uh, uh, it's going to be okay Star! Just hold on for a minute!" Paulina started looking through drawers frantically,_ 'Come on! They're ghost hunter's for pete's sake! Where's all the anti-ghost gadgets?!'_ Paulina heard growling and pulled her hand back just in time to avoid her finger being bitten off, she grabbed the closest thing to her and smacked the ghostly food item soundly. With a resounding, squeaky, 'Ahh!' the hotdog flew into the bread-box, which Star promptly closed. The other hotdogs stopped for a minute and turned to Paulina, she held out her weapon in front of her.

"Uh, Paulina? We can't possibly beat them all with a soup thermos!" Paulina looked down and saw that was indeed a soup thermos, 'Well, at least I can stuff some in here before I go down.' The hotdogs shook themselves off and all jumped towards her. Paulina screamed (1) and opened the thermos, pointing it at them, hoping that some of them would be dumb enough to accidentally jump into it. Then something amazing happened; a glowing blue-white beam shot out from it and began sucking up the rabid hotdogs. Star and Paulina stood transfixed as all of the hotdogs were eventually sucked into it before Paulina quickly snapped the lid back on and dumped it into a drawer. She looked up at Star,

"Wow, maybe the Fenton's are actually good for something." Star nodded mutely. "Star? Are- Are you okay?" Star looked up at her and said something that completely threw Paulina off,

"Why didn't Danny come down? We were both screaming, I know it…" Now that Paulina thought about it, they _had_ been screaming their lungs out, but still…no Danny.

"You're right. Come on, I want to see what's so important that he had to ignore us about it!" Star nodded and got down, then followed Paulina as she huffed angrily up the stars. _'Poor Danny, he's in for it now…'_ They got to the top of the stars and looked around, there were four doors; all closed. They looked at each other before looking at the doors again. One had green splatters that glowed slightly; they stayed well away from it, not knowing whether or not if it was going to come alive too. Two with nothing… And one with a few cracks in it.

"Umm… Maybe it's the one with the cracks in it?" Star asked Paulina,

"O-kay, I guess we can try that one first…" Paulina hesitantly walked up to it and put her hand on the doorknob, she looked at Star nervously before twisting and pulling the door open. She frowned for a moment, it seemed like a wall of silver and green mechanical _something's_, she poked it… and a wave of Fenton inventions rained down, effectively burying her.

"Paulina! Star shrieked, before diving onto the pile and digging for dear life, "Paulina! Are you okay?" Star reached her hand it and groped around for something warm. "Ah! Found you!" She braced herself and pulled of the hand for all she was worth, the pile shifted a bit before finally releasing its hold on the gasping form of Paulina.

"*gasp* What *gasp* was *gasp* THAT?" Paulina leaned against the wall for a moment before speaking again, "You are totally *gasp* opening *gasp* the next door! *gasp*" Star picked one of the blank doors and tentatively turned the knob, expecting another mountain… but found a lavender room instead.

"Look Paulina! There's nothing here! I guess it must be Jazz's room…" Paulina, huffed, and sensing that the danger was over, opened the other blank door boldly. Only to have neon-green goop rain down on her head, soaking her, and all she was wearing, thoroughly (2). Star bit back a laugh, wanting to live to see the next day. Paulina stood rigid, "I guess that we forgot about Danny's dad's invention exploding in here huh?" Paulina turned to her slowly,

"Yeah, I think we did. Come here Star."

"Uh, okay…" as soon as Star was close enough, Paulina grabbed her and pushed her into the goop-filled room. "Ahh! Argh, bleh!" Star fell face-first into the green mess and slid for another three or four feet before stopping after running into a desk.

"Hmm. I guess its slippery, thanks for the heads-up Star." (3) With that, Paulina daintily picked her way through the goop-clear area where Star had slid.

* * *

Hey guys, don't expect me to update this fast every time! I just happened to get bit by the inspiration bug this time! My goal is to update at least one of my stories at lease once a month, a week is borderline impossible… Anyways –

This is for TexasDreamer01, who wanted them to scream at least two more times.

This is for crazylittlequack, who wants Paulina covered in goop (I think…)

Ahhh… there's the paulina we all love and know! She and Star were acting a bit OOC before…


	3. Searching for Danny

_"Hmm. I guess its slippery, thanks for the heads-up Star." With that, Paulina daintily picked her way through the goop-clear area where Star had slid._

Star got up spluttering and spitting out ecto-goop, "Phh! Ptooey! What *ptgeh* was that for?" Paulina walked carefully up to her,

"Hmm… I'm not quite sure. But hey, at least now there's a path." Then she looked over Star at the desk, "Papers, pens, books… Ah! Here we go! A, uh, umm…" Star looked up from picking the goop off irritably,

"It's a hockey-stick!" Paulina raised her eyebrows then turned back to the room,

"I wonder why he has a hockey-stick in his room. It's not like he plays sports. And we don't even have an ice-rink in Amity Park. The nearest one is in Emlenton."

"You're right, but you have to remember who he hangs out with."

"True. But where'd he go? If he'd left through the front door we would've seen him…"

"Hey, is the window open?"

"I'm not sure. Let's check. If he snuck out on us…" Paulina let the threat hang and Star once again felt uncharacteristically sorry for the boy. Paulina went front as usual, sweeping the goop away from in front of her with the stick to form a crude path for them to walk on.

"Ugh. This stuff is so gross!" Star complained,

"Yeah well you're not the only one walking through it, so be quiet."

"Humph, fine."

"Good." When they got to the window Paulina used the stick to push the slimy, dripping curtains off to the side. They both stared for a moment before a frown appeared on Star's face,

"Uhhh, are those bars?"

"…Yeah. But why does he have them in here?"

"Maybe his parents put them here 'cause he sneaks out."

"Why would Danny sneak out?" Paulina started counting on her fingers, "He's not invited to parties, he doesn't have a girlfriend because he and the creepy bat girl are so clueless, he's not a juvie, he's not popular… This just doesn't make sense."

"Maybe they're to keep someone from coming in."

"Huh, maybe they don't want the bat girl to sneak in and drink his blood."

"Eww! That's gross Paulina!"

"Gross but a possibility."

"True."

"Wait a minute, hold the stick. I'm gonna see if the bars can be unscrewed."

"How would you know anything about that?"

"…Uh, informative television."

"Wait, didn't _your_ parents put bars in your room?"

"No! Where'd you get that idea?"

"When I came to your house the other night so we could sneak out to Dash's party you shined the flashlight out through some."

"Really? You must have been mistaken. It was probably just of the, uh,, bead strings I hung from my windowsill."

"Oh. Never mind then. Since when have you been interested in bead strings?"

"Five minutes ago…" Paulina whispered to herself,

"What?"

"Five months ago when I, uh, saw some cute ones at the store? Anyways, keep the stick still. I don't want any more dripping on me." Paulina pushed her hair behind her ear and bent over to look closely at the windowsill. "Hmm… It _is_ possible, but he hasn't seemed to do it yet." Star raised her eyebrow,

"Yet?"

"Er, did I say yet? I meant…at all." Paulina stood up, "He hasn't gone through here. Maybe he snuck past us when I used the thermosey thingy. Let's go look downstairs, hand me the stick." Paulina was 'cleaning' a path through to the door when Star said something that caught her attention.

"What do you think is in that room downstairs? After all, he did lock it." Paulina paused and leaned on the stick,

"You're right. Maybe he's hiding down there. If he played an instrument he might have a sound-proof recording studio, but he doesn't. So there goes that theory. Let's go check." Paulina got back to sweeping the goop in front of her with renewed fervor and soon they were out. Star closed the door behind them, careful to keep the goop from getting out.

"Here Paulina, wipe off your shoes with this." Star handed her a t-shirt with a bit of goop on it, "I think it would be better if he didn't know we were in there.

"Okay Star, but there's only one problem with your plan," Star looked at her questioningly, "We're _covered_ in goop!"

"Oh, right. But if we leave before he gets back he won't know, at least we won't have a trail of neon footprints following us." Paulina consented and wiped off her shoes. Star then effectively shoved the dirty shirt under the door and they headed downstairs. They turned into the living room and headed straight for the door,

"If he's in here he might have left the door unlocked." Paulina couldn't wait to see what was so important that he ignored them. They got to the door and looked at each other before Paulina stretched her hand out and tested the door…

* * *

Oh, I was hoping that this chapter would be longer… oh well… I have a few ideas for future chapters, I'm thinking maybe three more… I you like it or have any ideas, _PLEASE REVIEW!!!_


	4. The Lab

"_If he's in here he might have left the door unlocked." Paulina couldn't wait to see what was so important that he ignored them. They got to the door and looked at each other before Paulina stretched her hand out and tested the door…_

It was locked. But Paulina wasn't swayed,

"Star, do you have a hairpin?"

"Of course I do, you know how my hair can be sometimes. That weird curl that just won't go away… So I keep them-"

"Star! No time for the back story, just give me the hairpin!" Star silently handed her the accessory and Paulina took it quickly. Then stared at the lock for a moment before swiftly bending and unbending the pin with an expertise that Star didn't know she could posses.

"Hey, Paulina?"

"Yeah Star? I'm kind of busy now. What was it? Right, left, left, left right, for the'98 standard? Or was it-"

"Paulina, how do you know how to do that?" Paulina paused and looked up,

"Just guessing my way through, unless you want to try it."

"No! It's just…"

"Just what Star?"

"What were you talking about with the whole right, left, left, right, thing? And the '98 standard?" Paulina frowned,

"Well, uh, you see…I…um, took a lock picking class when I was younger in case I was ever abducted?" Star didn't hear the mumbled, "Yeah, that sounds plausible…"

"Oh, okay then. Hey-" Paulina's head shot up,

"Star! Are you going to let me do this or not? Just be quiet and do something ELSE!" Star looked hurt for a moment before seeing the reason in Paulina's words and wandering off to explore. She went over to the mantelpiece and looked at the pictures hard, then she went to the kitchen again, staying well away from the fridge and the drawer with the thermos-full of evil hotdogs. She went to the pantry and poked it with her foot, then jumped back when it swung open. Nothing jumped out at her, so she walked in looking for a light-switch somewhere. Her left hand ended up with the light switch, and her right…She shuddered and wondered if she really wanted to know what she had accidentally put her hand on. When she switched on the light, she sighed in relief. It was only a pan of fudge. After extracting he hand from the icky goey mess, Star turned and looked for something to wipe it off on. _'Paper towels, paper towels, papertowels… Why don't they have paper towels?'_She saw a napkin holder and decided that that was good enough, after wiping most of the brown sticky stuff off she turned to the sink and washed her hands. Then she remembered why she had come into the kitchen in the first place, food. _'Hmm… That fudge looked pretty good. I'm sure Danny won't mind if I take some. After all, he owes me for getting me attacked by evil hotdog earlier…'_ Then she paused, what if it ended up like the hotdogs? _'Nah, if they were going to attack me that would have done so by now.'_ With that she turned back to the pantry and reached for the fudge. As she lifted the pan out, she noticed something shiny under it, she balanced the pan on her left hand and grabbed for what seemed to be a key. She put it in her pocket, but just as she was walking out of the pantry door, an alarm went off.

"INTRUDER! INTRUDER! THEIFTHEIFTHEIF!!!" Star screamed and dropped the fudge pan, maybe the key was important or…"Thank you for returning the fudge! Have a good day!" Okay, Danny's parents were officially weird. She put the fudge back where it was and walked over to where Paulina was still fiddling with the lock. Then she remembered the key in her pocket, _'Maybe it goes to the door…'_ she walked over to Paulina and tapped her on the shoulder,

"What is it now Star?" Paulina looked up at Star,

"Well, I, uh, can I try?" Paulina looked up confused,

"You? Unlocking the door?" Star nodded nervously,

"Uh, yeah…is that okay?"

"Sure. My fingers were getting a bit tired anyways. Go ahead and _try_." Paulina emphasized the last word, then handed Star the hairpin.

"Why are you giving me that?"

"Uh, so you can open the door?" Star thought about it for a second, what if this wasn't the right key? Did she really want to make a fool of herself?

"Oh, sorry. I kinda spaced." She then snatched the key and leaded over the lock, _'Pleasepleaseplease work!'_ She inserted the key, it fit. Agonizingly slowly she turned the key. With a resounding 'click' the door gave way and opened. Star quickly put the key back in her pocket, and just in time, because Paulina walked up to her. Jaw hanging open, Paulina finally found her voice,

"H-how did you do that so quickly? I took lessons and it took me forever to find out where the mechanism _wasn't_…You're a natural!" All thoughts of telling Paulina that she had found the key vanished at the other girl's praise. Paulina thought Star was better at something than her! No way was she telling her that it wasn't true… Paulina was still gaping when Star started speaking,

"Well, do you want to see what's in there or not?" Paulina snapped back into focus,

"Uh, yeah…Of course. Let's go, you first though." Star was about to ask why when she remembered, _"'Uh,' he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly for a second, "Well, there's some dangerous stuff down there, and I really don't want you guys to get hurt or something."_ So _that's_ why. Miss Perfection wasn't being nice, she was keeping herself out of harm's way. Star rolled her eyed before starting down the stairs. Everything looked like it was made out of chrome, glass, and the same green stuff that was in Danny's room. There were several steel operating tables, covered in vials and beakers full of bubbling, dripping, frothing _stuff_. Paulina Stared in open wonderment while Star walked over to one of the tables in an awe-induced haze.

"What…what do you think's in these? It looks like the same stuff from Danny's room…"

"I don't know, but if it stains Danny's SO gonna pay…  
Paulina replied automatically. At the back of the room was an octagonal doorway of some sort. They could see the sides of the yellow and black hazard-striped doors. Inside was a swirling black and green mass. It seemed see-through, but at the same time completely solid (1), like some sort of veil or wall that prevented them from seeing in farther in than two or three inches. It obscured everything, but at the same time kept everything sharp and clear. It swirled in a hypnotic manner that drew the two in like moths to a flame…or ghosts to the human world. The both mindlessly wandered towards it, oblivious to the dangers within. Both having the same compelline urge to discover what lay on the other side...Suddenly, they were snapped out of their haze when a female voice loudly announced, "Authorized access only, please step back until the Portal has closed. Thank you!" Star and Paulina blinked for a moment, returning to the real world. The image of the open portal permanently burned into their minds.

"Whoa…that was…"

"…amazing." Paulina finished, "I never knew anything could be so, so _alluring_."

"It just seemed so perfect. I _needed_ it, it was like it took over my brain or something…Like I was possesed."

"I know what you mean Star," Star tore her gaze from the closed portal to look around the room.

"Hey, look Paulina! It' the same, uh, stuff that fell on you earlier!" Paulina looked around apprehensively,

"The goop?"

"No! The metal thingies that almost buried you alive! You know, behind the first door?" Paulina slowly nodded her head, deciding that there was less of a danger than the goop from upstairs. She too looked around the room. There were piles of inventions and gadgets, all with Jack's face on them somewhere. The cement floor and walls had green stains in various sized from things she couldn't even begin to guess.

"Geez, compared to the rest of them, Danny's actually pretty normal." Star looked up from whatever she was doing,

"Uh, yeah. You're right. Come here and look at this!" Paulina walked over there, careful not to touch anything. When she got to where Star was kneeling, she stooped over,

"Well? What's so important?"

"I was wondering, do you have any idea what a Fenton Ectoplasmic Super Sprayer Spreader does?"

"Uh, Star, I don't think we really want to find out…AHHH!!!" Paulina and Star jumped off to the side as the machine started spewing green slime-balls everywhere. "STAR! I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING!!!" Paulina yelled before she was nailed and went down. Star stood up, bad idea, and yelled back,

"NO YOU DIDN'T! STOP LYING-OOF!" then she too went down. Everything was chaos, until they heard the most wonderful thing ever to grace their ears, "Ammunition supply has been depleted, please refill soon." Both girls sighed, then looked around the now goop-covered room. Paulina spoke up first,

"Star, we are so dead. And the 'don't touch anything' was _implied_!"

"Well how was I supposed to know that? Come on, let's look for something to clean all of this up with." Paulina huffed,

"Well fine. But _don't touch anything_!" Star help up her hands,

"Okay, okay! Just don't bite my head off!" Paulina growled at her, then turned around and started gingerly picking goop off items with her fingers.

"Star, I am never going to be you lab partner again; cleaning up is too much work."

"But Paulina!" Star whined, "Who will be your partner? Or more importantly, mine!"

"Hmm…" Paulina tapped her chin for a moment before grinning devilishly, "Well there's always Nathan-"

"No way! I will never be that loser's partner!" Paulina raised her eyebrow,

"Or Tucker the Technogeek." Star gagged,

"I take it back, I'll take Nathan any day over that geek. He even hangs out with that goth freak and…"

"Danny?" Paulina finished. "You know, he's actually pretty good at chemistry. From his parents I guess," she shrugged, "I guess he could be my partner, I just wished he played sports. Then I'd be able to go to his games. Oh well, I guess that 'accidentally' setting his shirt on fire will have to do…"

"Uh, Paulina? Since when have you wanted to cheer Danny?"

"Since I saw him this morning. Don' t you think so too?" Star paused for a moment before agreeing,

"You're right. He is _way_ up on the list now."

"Agreed." Just then Paulina saw the Fenton Eco-plastic Superior Spread Spayer thingy start peeping, she backed away from it quickly, accidentally crashing into another table. Luckily for her, it was braced up against a wall, so it didn't fall over. Still, she froze, not wanting anything to go off. Star noticed her and started giggling,

"Star! What's your problem? Are you going to help me or not?" Paulina hissed angrily,

"It's just that, hehe, you're afraid of, hehehehehehe!"

"Well? What's behind me! A bazooka? A laser gun? Another goop sprayer thingy?"

"A, hehehe!, an old computer! Hehehe!" Paulina turned around,

"Oh, why didn't you just say that?"

"Be-because…Paulina? The computer's turning green!"

"What!" Paulina and Star both started backing up, hoping that nothing else would go off, until… 'Welcome to the Fenton Lab Public Computer! Ple3ase select user!' appeared on the screen along with some little floating ghost icons. "Oh, good. For a second I thought that- Star NO!" But it was too late, Star had already sat down at the table and clicked on the 'choose user' button on the screen. Paulina shielded her face with her arms and hunched down, prepared for the worst.

"Oh come _on_ Paulina! It's just a computer, maybe it'll tell us where Danny went!" Star spun back around to face the computer again,

"Well…I guess it's okay. As long as you don't touch anything else."

"Good!" Star replied in an extremely excited voice, "Now, which user do I choose? Jack, Maddie, Jazz or Danny?"

"Danny of course, his password is obvious."

"Well, uh, what do you think it is?" Star asked confused, Paulina rolled her eyes,

" Paulina Fenton! Duh."

"Oh, okay! It…doesn't work."

"What? Did you capitalize? Try with a space in between, then with no space, then no capitalization."

"Okay. No, no, and no." Paulina was flabbergasted,

"What? How could he not…? I mean… Try, 'Goth Fenton'."

"Why?"

"Ugh, Star! The goth girl! Everyone calls them lovebirds for a reason! Although what he sees in her I'll never know…"

"Shouldn't we try her first name instead?"

"Nobody knows it 'cept Danny and the technogeek! And maybe Lancer…"

"It didn't work either. I know her name starts with an "S" though, Susan? No, to nice. Sandra? Too normal. Ssss…"

"Ssss…? Am I really that dumb looking?" (Haha, not answering!) Star gasped,

"Paulina! That's it! Sam!"

"Then try it!"

"It says, 'Sorry Jazz, try again.'"

"Let's try another. Maddie is his mom right?"

"Yeah, I think so since Jazz is his only sister."

"She sounds too smart. And we probably wouldn't even be able to _pronounce_ Jazz's. Is there anyone else?"

"Yeah, 'Jack'."

"He's the guy in the horrible orange jumpsuit right? Yeah, I thought so." Paulina said without giving Star a chance to answer, "Well, he seems sort of childish. So his password has to be simple right?"

"Yes!" Star almost yelled, trying to get a word in the conversation, Paulina looked at her strangely,

"Shhh! Don't yell, someone might hear us! Anyways, any ideas? Hey, try 'ghost'."

"No, that's wrong. What about 'Fenton'? No, that's not it either. Hmm…" Star's thoughts wandered back to the pantry and the fudge alarm, _'No, it couldn't be…It's too simp- Yup that's it.'_ "Wait a minute Paulina, I think I have it." She typed in 'Fudge', when it didn't work she frowned, why else would there be an alarm on the fudge? Sure, the was sure it had been 'ghost', but that didn't work, so… _'What about Ghost Fudge?'_ She typed it in, and bit her lip, they _were_ ghost hunters.

"Yes! I got it Paulina!" She whispered loudly when the computer said, 'Passowrd Accepted! Welcome Jack!" She turned and high 5'ed Paulina. "We're finally in!" The screen finally loaded, showing a picture of, can you believe it?, more ghosts. The files on the desktop attracted her attention, "Hey Paulina, what do you think 'Fenton Inventions' has in it?"

"How should I know?"

"Hmm. Do you think they've invented something to clean up the goop? I know _I_ don't want to clean it up by hand." Paulina shuddered,

"Me neither. Check."

"Okay. 'Fenton Bazooka', hey Paulina, you were right! 'Fenton Thermos' malfunction. 'Specter Deflector' successful. 'Fenton Boooomerang' Malfunction, who comes up with these names? 'Fenton Weasel' successful. That's it! We need the weasel!" Come on! Let's go find it!"

"Uhhh, Star?" Paulina asked as she was dragged along behind her friend, "Maybe that's not such a good idea-"

"There it is!"

"There what is?

"The weasel! Come on, the sooner this gunk is cleaned up the better!" The 'weasel' looked more like a small vacuum than anything else, but as long as it worked Paulina didn't care. Star aimed it , then told Paulina that she was ready. Paulina flipped the switch on and all hell broke loose. There was a huge sucking sound and _everything_ flew at them. The glass vials and beakers, the slime, and…after it had been sucked in, _they_ flew at the portal. The noise stopped when the weasel attached itself to the portal door, then began expanding at an alarmingly fast rate. Paulina jumped onto it and flicked the 'off' switch. The bag began to deflate and the girls looked at each other.

"Wow…" Star finally breathed out, she then braced herself on the door and pulled hard. With a sucking sound the gadget detached itself from the wall. "Phew! For a moment I thought we were…going…to get caught…Darn." All of the tables had been swept clean. And when they looked at themselves, they were covered in small cuts from the beakers and vials that had hit them.

"Ow!" Paulina cried as she stretched out, "We should have just cleaned it up ourselves. Now they'll _definitely_ know we've been down here!"

"How about we at least sweep up some of the stuff the weasel didn't pick up?"

"Okay. Maybe that's the broom closet." Paulina motioned to a door to their right,

"Sure." Star walked up and twisted the knob, to her surprise a keypad popped up. She looked at Paulina, "Do you want to try the same password?"

"No, even his dad couldn't be _that_ dumb. Maybe someone entered it in the computer."

"I don't think that Jack would do it, I'm surprised he even came up with a password that he can remember. Maybe Maddie?"

"Mayb- hey, do you see something on the door?" Star said squinting, both girls walked over to it and peered at it closely. "It says 'Danny's Keep Out' I thought he slept upstairs…"

"He does. Maybe it's just his room for, uh, videogames? I bet the technogeek convinced him to get one."

"But Paulina! We already tried his account!"

"Hmm…" Paulina looked around the room

"Paulina? What're you looking for?"

"A security camera. It could have picked up Danny typing in the password."

"Oh, what if he's in there?"

"Then I guess he'll be in there. Found it." Paulina pointed up at the ceiling where an inconspicuous little camera was attached. "Come on, the computer probably has the files we want." The two girls went back to the computer and began looking through files. Finally they found it, deciding that it might be better to view something from a few days before, they clicked on the icon for Thursday. After all, two days was enough wasn't it? Star started scrolling down, looking for the file she wanted,

"Thursday, Thursday, Thursday…Ah! Found it! Come on Paulina, let's watch." The screen cleared and started playing the video. Nothing happened. It only showed the lab, a bit messier that when they first walked in, but still the same. "How about we fast forward it?" Paulina nodded her head, after a few minutes she yelled, "Stop! You just passed something! Go back!" Star rewinded at a much slower rate and saw what she had missed. She stopped and pushed play.

'_Danny, the goth girl, and the technogeek walked in. Danny and the technogeek started rummaging through the inventions and the goth girl sat down at the computer and opened up a manila folder. Then she turned on the computer and clicked on Danny's icon. The password box opened and she started typing something in,'_ Paulina and Star squinted, trying to see that it was… 9-27-2004 (this is going to be the day he went into the portal) "Weird…" Paulina muttered… _'Sam logged on and clicked on one of the folders, then one of the subfolders, then one of the subfolders, and etc. It seemed to go on forever until she finally found what she was looking for._

"_Geez Danny, why'd you have to make your ghost files so hard to get to?" Danny walked up to her and leaned on the back of the chair,_

"_You know why Sam. What're you doing in there anyways?"_

"_Updating your ghost files. Now shoo, you and Tucker are supposed to be collecting the more annoying and successful weapons."_

"_Fine." Danny sighed loudly and pushed himself off before heading back towards the techno- Er, Tucker. This continued for a long while, then Sam got up and started helping the boys. After what seemed like an eternity, the three of them picked up armfuls of the things they had collected and brought them upstairs and out of view. They heard Tucker start complaining, and then his mutter of, "Unfair! Not all of us have superstrength…" After that everything just faded out, and the screen went black.'_ Paulina spoke up first,

"Uh, did he just say 'superstrength?'"

"Yeah…"

"Well after this morning, I wouldn't be too surprised if he did."

"Same. Let's try yesterday, he might have gone in there." Star went back to the files and looked for Friday, after a few seconds she smiled triumphantly and played it. She didn't have to fast-forward as much, and sat down to enjoy the show.

_A man and a woman in horrible blue and orange jumpsuits walked onto the screen; most likely Jack and Maddie. They started working on some machines and stayed that way for awhile. Finally, Jack held it up triumphantly, and started waving it around. It turned out to be what had sprayed them earlier; Maddie finally got him to stop after a minute or two. _

"_Come on Jack, let's wait until the kids get home before you end up breaking it or it goes missing. Okay?" came the voice of the woman,_

"_Okay! Do you have a cookie?"_

"_Yes, yes, now go up to the kitchen and look in the bread box." _The girls shuddered, thinking of what was now in the bread box._ The man ran and clomped up the stairs, a few seconds later Maddie walked to the foot of the stairs and yelled up, "And don't eat all of the fudge! You have to leave some for the kids this time!" a muffled, 'Awww!' was heard from above. Maddie continued to tidy up, and after the lab looked a bit neater, she too turned to go upstairs._ Star started fast-forwarding, deciding that they wouldn't come down until Danny and/or Jazz got home. At 3:00 p.m. she stopped it, there was no one there. She fast-forwarded it another fifteen minutes, still nothing. Where were Danny and Jazz? After another half an hour (in the video) of fast-forwarding, someone finally came on screen. It was Danny.

"_-kay, okay! Be there in a minute Dad!"_

"Stop Star, I want to know all of it. Rewind a minute or two." Star looked a little confused at this, but complied.

_The door slammed upstairs, and they could hear someone above them clomping around excitedly, _

"_Hey Danny-boy! How was school? Want to see my new invention?!"_

"_Uh, sure Dad. In a minute though, I have to do something in the lab."_

"_But you're going to see the new invention! Why'd you bring your friends?"_

"_Because they're my friends Dad. I'm going to the lab now."_

"_No, don't! You'll see the invention!"_

"_I promise not to look at the invention pile Dad, okay?"_

"_Okay, but no peeking!"_

"_Okay, okay Dad. Be there in a minute." A second or two later Danny walked down the stairs and headed straight to the Portal. He gave a wary glance to the invention table and then kept going. As he neared, a hand-print analyzer popped up and he put his hand on it. The portal opened and he opened his bag. Reaching inside he took out a thermos. But it wasn't just any thermos, it was the same as the one Paulina ha used in the kitchen. He pointed in at the now open portal and pressed a button on it. The blue light came out again, but this time instead of sucking something in, it spewed something out. They vaguely made out the shapes of a blob in blue overalls and something metallic before their view was blocked by the veil-like thing. _

"_And stay out Skulker! It's the fifth time this week, when're you going to give up?"_

"_Not until I have your pelt on the wall gh…" Paulina and Star looked at each other, 'What had he been trying to say?' Danny rolled his eyes,_

"_Whatever Skulker." Then he turned around and walked back up the stairs, or at least tried to. Before he could put his foot on the step he had to jump to the side to avoid being stampeded by his Dad. Ironically he landed in front of the door. Jack, who was holding a Fenton Bazooka at the time and wearing some sort of goggles, swung around to see him…and fired. Danny dropped into a crouched position with almost inhuman speed, it was as if he had done this before. Unfortunately, the door didn't have the same luck. The key-pad was blasted point blanch._

"_Dad! What is your problem?!"_

"_Danny?" Jack sounded confused, "But the Fenton Ghost Detector Goggles said there was a ghost there. You're not being overshadowed are you?"_

"_No Dad." Danny said, getting up and rolling his eyes, then he noticed the lock behind him. "Dad! You blasted my lock!"_

"_Don't worry Danny! I'm sure it's just fine. Let me see!" jack went over and typed something in, the door opened. "See? I told you!"_

"_Uh, Dad? How did you know my password?"_

"_Oh, I just typed in mine! Like Father like Son huh?"_

"_It was 'Ghost Fudge' wasn't it?"_

"_Yeah! Why?"_

"_That's not my password Dad."_

"_Then how come it opened?"_

"'_Cause you broke it."_

"_How do you know?" Danny walked over to the keypad, _

"_Look Dad, '123'." The door opened, "'ABC'" the door opened again, "You type in _anything_ and it opens. Darn, I'm going to have to replace that lock now…Why'd you come down here anyways?"_

"_The Ghost Detector said that there was some ghost activities down here…" He pouted, "I guess they're both more flukes." Danny gave his dad a sympathetic glance,_

"_Sorry Dad." Jack turned and went back up the stairs. The girls almost didn't hear Danny mutter, "Now all I have to do is destroy them so they'll stop going off around me when I'm hu…" Once again, his voice faded out as he went up the stairs._

Paulina and Star slowly exited out of the security camera footage then looked at each other. Now they knew how to get in.

* * *

Yes! Finally, an update! I know it's been awhile, but I think the length is enough to make up for that! If I don't get enough reviews, I don't think people like it, and I won't update anymore…SO REVIEW PLEASE!!!

(1) Did any of you ever notice that? From the lab, the ghost zone portal is all swirly and solid, and from the ghost zone it's all swirly and solid...


	5. The Secret Room 1

Paulina and Star walked over to the door,

"So we should have just tried a password instead of watching those videos?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Come on, I want to type in the password." Paulina reached for the keypad but Star's hand grabbed it,

"I want to do it, after all, I'm the one who opened the door, and figured out the computer password, and found the videos!"

"Exactly! I'm the one who got buried in machines and covered with slime! You've already done enough!"

"No! I want to! What password would you put in? _'Paulina Phantom'_?" Paulina's ears turned red and she stomped over to her friend.

"No! What about you huh? _'Star Fenton'_?" Star growled and jumped forward, Paulina, having nowhere to go, fell on the keypad. There was a beeping noise and the door opened. "_Thanks_ Star! Now neither of us gets to type in the password!" When Paulina turned around she saw what was in the room and her jaw went slack. Star noticed as well and had a similar reaction. Neither expected what they saw. They had been guessing a gaming room, or a hang-out; that would have been normal for a boy like Danny. But a full-fledged training room? Sure, Dash had one, but it was _nothing_ compared to this. Gymnast bars, weight lifts, some sort of treadmill, yoga mats…everything they would expect to find in an expensive gym.

"Where'd he get the money for this? He always seemed so broke…" Paulina walked over to the weight lifts, they were at _least_ twice the size of Dash's. "Star, come here, I want to see something. All thoughts of their spat disappeared as Star walked over. "Come. And. Help. Me. Lift. These!"

Paulina and Star grunted and strained, but the weights didn't even budge. Even Dash would have trouble, and that was only with one! The two gave up and went to the treadmill. It looked normal enough, but the weights had made then suspicious. Climbing onto the sides, Paulina reached over to turn it on at the lowest setting; it started smoothly and without any problems. Slowly it gained speed; faster and faster. And faster? Star looked puzzled,

"Paulina, you sure this is the lowest setting? It seems to be going awfully fast…"

"Yeah, I am. Look, any slower and the thing would turn off." Star looked and her eyes widened.

"Paulina! Look how fast this thing goes! 30 mph! Running!"

"That's 6 mph faster than the world record!"

"I know! If Danny can go that fast…"

"Wow…" Paulina shut the machine off then saw something else. Another security camera. "Star! There' another camera! If we could find out where the videos are saved we could see what he does in here, and if it's even his."

"Oh," Said Star dreamily, "I think it is. Or did I dream this morning? 'Cause if I did it would be really weird. Me daydreaming about a loser like that…"

"Believe me Star, unless both of us were dreaming, it was 100% real. Are you going to help me find the computer, or wherever the videos are?"

"Yeah… Okay. "

"Okay Star, you take that side of the room, by the weights. I'll do the gymnast bars. Got it?"

"Yup. Let's get started!" The girls took off to their respected sides and began searching. After half an hour, the girls gave up and sat down back-to-back in the middle of the room.

"Do you think we're ever going to find it?"

"At this rate? No. Do you?"

"Same." Paulina answered drearily. Just then Star sat upright,

"Hey! Do you think they're on the other computer?"

"No, we already checked through all of those files when we were looking for the password for this room."

"No, under _Danny's _account! He must have them!"

"But how do we get into his account? We already tried, remember?"

"Yeah! But in one of the videos I saw the goth girl typing it in!" Paulina sat upright as well,

"Then what are we waiting for?" The girls got up and raced for the computer in the lab.

"Password, password, password…" Star murmured to herself, then, "Aha! Got it! 9-27-2004! Got it?"

"Yeah Star, now log out!" Star did, then clicked on Danny's user icon,

"Nine, twenty-seven, two 'o' 'o' four…" Star whispered, talking to herself once more. "Yes! Paulina, we're in!"

"Well what are you waiting for Star? Look for the videos!"

"Okay, okay! Got 'em!" Paulina looked at Star in slight disgust,

"'Got 'em'? Really Star? Are you that much of a hillbilly?" Star blushed bright red,

"Well, um, no. But I was excited and-"

"Save it. You're lucky how forgiving I feel right now; but you'd better stop with the redneck talk, I won't be seen with a cowgirl from whoknowswhere unless it's in fashion." Star once again turned red, and then looked down at the monitor. "And stop with the talking to yourself thing. It's creepy, and it's a sign that you don't have any friends. Am I not considered your friend or something? Am I really that unworthy of being talked to? (Haha, once again: Not answering!)"

"Yeah, well, uh, you're great talking to. I mean, you're great to talk to." Paulina raised her eyebrows, "Sorry. I'll just shut up now."

"…Good idea. Now find the videos already! I bet we've already wasted a lot of time!" Star clicked madly away, then grinned at Paulina triumphantly,

"Here we are! Wish I had some popcorn. This is going to be a great show."

"Agreed. Except for the popcorn thing, too many calories and grease." Star sighed, but stayed quiet.

_Danny, the techno-geek, and the goth girl walked in._

_ "So Danny, what are we going to do today? Double-life (1), or Average?"_

_ "Uh, we did Double-life yesterday, so…sure, why not? Average it is."_

_ "Awww! But yesterday was awesome! Come on guys! Danny, you were doing great and-"_

_ "No Tucker." The two love-birds chorused._

_ "Okay, now that that' been taken care of. Strength first Danny? Or speed? Or maybe flexibility?"_

_ "Uh, how about flexibility? I don't want to be too tired for speed or strength. Speed next though."_

_ "Okay. Tucker? If you're just going to mope, go and update the ghost files." The goth girl shoved the manila folder at the techno-geek and he almost fell over._

_ "Oof! Okay Sam!" After regaining her balance, the techno-geek walked out the door._

_ "Good, now that that's been taken care of. To the yoga mats Danny."_

_ "Ha, for a minute I thought you were going to say, 'To the Batmobile!' Ow! Geez Sam, what was that for?" Danny said playfully while rubbing his arm,_

_ "For acting like an idiot. Now go." Danny complied, and as he reached the mats started stretching, Sam started as well. _

_ "You too Sam?"_

_ "Uh, _duh_ Danny. This is my favorite part. I'm the one who suggested it to you remember?" Danny smiled and nodded then resumed his exercises. After a few minutes he got up,_

_ "Ready Sam?" She nodded and then stretched as well. _

_ "Let's do this." Then, before Danny could say anything, "And don't even think about it, say another thing and you won't make it through this session." Danny mimed zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key, the goth girl rolled her eyes but smiled at his immatureness. "Honestly don't know how you make it through everyday acting like that. Now, sun-stretch!" Seeing that this was going to get boring fast, Paulina reached over Star and clicked on the fast-forward button. Star saw what she was doing and leaned back to give her more room. Paulina was right, it _did_ look boring. After a while they got to speed and stopped. _

_ "So Star? Wanna make a bet on how fast he's gonna go?" Paulina said after pausing the video._

_ "Ummm…You first."_

_ "No, I asked you first."_

_ "Oh alright… How about…28 mph? He can't possible go 30. I can't run on my mom's treadmill at full speed."_

_ "Oh, I wouldn't doubt him. 30 mph!"_

_ "O-kay. But what are we betting?"_

_ "Hmm…This is going to be tough since my stuff is better than yours." Star raised her eyebrows and then foolishly responded,_

_ "No! You love that pink shirt I have! The one that you still can't find where to buy!"_

_ "Hmm…You're right. I'll get that if I win, and I lose you get, uh, my camo-pink shirt."_

_ "That one? You haven't even worn it once 'cause your grandma gave it to you!"_

_ "Exactly, so that means it's new. And new thing for an old thing, I'd say it's fair. Now play the video, I want that shirt." Star huffed but clicked on the play button anyways._

_ Danny got onto the treadmill and started it up, it began to go faster and faster, Danny's legs became a blur…But he hardly broke a sweat. The goth girl smiled at him and then returned to her notes. Danny smiled back, then reached over to the dial and turned up the speed a bit. The treadmill went even faster, and Danny lost his loping look and replaced it with a more determined one. A slight sheen appeared on his body, but his movements didn't falter, in fact, they almost came on stronger. His strides stretched longer and longer across the moving belt, they were almost _too_ long. A few minutes he yet again turned up the dial. The goth girl, hearing the increasing noise of the machine, turned up and frowned worriedly at him,_

_ "Don't push yourself too hard Danny. Remember, this is only a routine test. Not one of the major ones, endurance, not speed. Okay?"_

_ "Okay." He managed to puff back, "But, but I want…" he took a deep breath, "want to, try breaking my record." With that he quieted and focused on his running. The goth girl shook her head and watched quietly. After about ten more minutes, he was really sweating. The goth girl couldn't seem to stand it anymore, she silently stood up and walked over to the wall. Danny broke his concentration for a moment to watch her._

_ "Don't do it Sam." He warned between breaths,_

_ "Or what? You'll tackle me like you did Tucker when I told him to do it?" Danny's already red face seemed to darken another shade or two,_

_ "No Sam, I'll…do something else…" She smirked at him,_

_ "Yeah, yeah, whatever. What's the all-powerful ghostboy gonna do about it hmm?" _Paulina's eyes widened, 'She did _not_! She called Danny the ghostboy! It, it must be a nickname or something!' just then Star spoke up,

"Ghostboy? What a weird nickname for him. Maybe 'cause his parents are ghost hunters…?" Paulina only nodded numbly,

_She reached down to the plug in and pulled it out. The treadmill stopped almost instantly and Danny was thrown forward towards the slightly padded walls. _

* * *

(1) 'Double Life' is codename for Phantom 'cause you never know who's watching, right Paulina and Star?

__Sorry it took me so long to update! I was in Washington and I left my computer at school... :(


	6. The Secret Room 2

_She reached down to the plug in and pulled it out. The treadmill stopped almost instantly and Danny was thrown forward towards the slightly padded walls._

"_Saaaa-oomph!" Danny seemed to try something and flickered a bit before hitting the wall. _Paulina grabbed the mouse and rewinded the video and played it again, the same thing happened,

"Seriously? This video must be really crappy if the films fade out like that. Hopefully it won't happen anymore." Star nodded in agreement as Paulina pushed the play button,

"_Nice try. But the walls are ghost-proof remember? We didn't want anyone bothering us while we worked." Danny just fell over on his back and groaned while rubbing his head. After a few moments he spoke,_

"_Ow. Did you have to do that Sam? I'm going to have a major bruise now!" _'Funny,' Star thought, 'This is from yesterday, but he didn't have a bruise on his face at all…He obviously hit the wall hard…!' Unknown to her, Paulina's thoughts echoed her own, albeit a bit altered. 'How dare that goth freak do that! But…maybe they were acting? He didn't have a bruise when we got here, and I'm _positive_ he didn't have anything to cover it up with on…I guess they're really good actors, but who for? They obviously don't know anything about the security camera…'

"_Well serves you right for pushing yourself so hard on a regular practice run."_

"_Sometimes Sam…" Danny mimicked crushing something between his hands, Sam rolled her eyes,_

"_Yeah, whatever ghostboy, we all know you're too much of a goody two-shoes to do anything to anyone besides Tucker," Sam tapped her chin for a moment, then added, "And maybe Dash." As an afterthought. Danny absentmindedly nodded as he got up,_

"_At least it'll be gone by this afternoon…" Sam shot him 'the look'_

"_Unless you get something worse than a bruise…" she tapped her steel-shod toes suggestively, "Like, say, a broken shin bone?"_

"_Okay, okay, I get it Sam. No need to go all violent on me." Sam punched him in the shoulder, "Ow! What was that for?"_

"_For acting like your idiotic self." Danny pretended to gape at her for a moment until she raised her fist once more._

"_Fine! But…"_

"_But what?" Sam replied, raising an eyebrow,_

"_Did you get the time and speed?" He asked, she rolled her eyes but nodded."Well? What were they?" His voice had gained an excited edge,_

"_27 ½ mph and 3:48. Happy?" He lopsidedly grinned,_

"_Of course; I beat my previous speed didn't I?"_

"_Well do you think that you still have enough energy to do the strength test semi-well?" Danny thought for a moment,_

"_Uh, maybe in a little while. Do you want to go eat something? I'm starved, didn't get lunch because Skulker decided to come and interrupt me as I left the classroom. Good thing nobody was there," Sam opened her mouth, but he interrupted her, "Mr. Lancer wanted to see me after class and everyone was already in the lunchroom."_

"_Oh, okay then. Now about the eating part…"_

"_Nothing from the Fenton household, I got it. Still don't get how salad could be so vicious…" Their voices trailed off as the two left the room and presumably went to the Nasty burger with Tucker._

"Well _I'm_ not surprised." Paulina said without a moment's hesitation,

"About what?" Star replied,

"The whole, 'Nothing from the Fenton household', and the part about the evil salad."

"Oh, me neither. Those hotdogs…" Star shuddered, "Well, want to take a break or fast forward until we get to the strength test thingy?"

"Um, how long have we been watching?"

"Maybe an hour or so. Why?"

"That means…we were here for maybe half an hour before we, uh, _entered_ the lab right?"

"Yeah,"

"So we've been here for around an hour and half and Danny had only been here for around five minutes! He's probably going to be home soon!"

"Well, what're we gonna do?"

"Hold on," Paulina ran upstairs and got her purse, then returned holding something up triumphantly,

"What's that?"

"My flash-drive! We can put the rest of the video on this and wtch it at my house in case he gets home before we finish!"

"Okay, but why did you have one in your purse?" Paulina flushed slightly,

"Well, uh, it for my, um, Ghostboy pictures…"

"Ghostboy? ghostboy, Ghostboy, ghostboy, Ghostboy… GHOSTBOY!" Paulina stared at her,

"You feeling alright Star?"

"Yes, of course! Don't you see? Ghostboy!" Paulina's hand rested on her hip,

"No, I don't Star. So please explain before I ship you off to the insane asylum."

"You can't see? Danny _Fenton_, Danny _Phantom_, _goth girl's_ ghostboy, _your_ Ghostboy?" Comprehension began to dawn on Paulina's face, "The goth girl _does_ want to be like you! She hangs out with Fenton, you love Phantom! She picked a guy whose last name sounded like the guy you like! Maybe she likes him too?... _And_, she nicknamed him ghostboy! Your love is Ghostboy! Now do you see?"

"Yes! I _knew_ she couldn't really dislike me! After all, _everyone_ loves me, I'm Paulina Sanchez."

"Mmmhmm. Anyways do you want to- _thump_." The girl looked up at the ceiling for a moment, and then a look of dawning horror appeared on their faces, "D-do y-you th-th-think it's a…"

"G-g-ghost?" Paulina finished in a small voice, then she seemed to think for a moment and a nervous smile appeared on her face, "No, Danny's room is above this, a-and no ghost would be stupid enough to break in. Right?" Star composed herself,

"Yeah…wait! Doesn't that mean that, _Danny's_ up there?"

"Oh, quick! Put that onto my flash-drive before he notices we're down here!" Star grabbed the flash-drive and began frantically looking for a USB opening,

"Where do I put it! This thing is so old it probably doesn't even have a USB opening!"

"Uh, look in the back! They sometimes put them there!" Paulina silently prayed that there would be one,

"Aha! Got it!"

"Hurry up!"

"I am!" A green bar appeared in the screen and started to slowly fill up,

"Okay! It's almost done and I think I hear someone going down the stairs up there! Let's go!" Paulina reached behind the computer and yanked out the flash-drive, ignoring the flashing warning on the computer that said, 'Download incomplete! Files may not be whole! Download incomplete!' Star clicked on the log-off button and the two bolted out, Star, being the last one out took a second to re-lock the door before closing it and joining Paulina on the couch. Paulina realized that they would look conspicuous just sitting on the couch, so she made a grab for the nearest thing, which happened to be a photo album. She opened it to a random page and the two of them pretended to be absorbed in its contents, a few seconds later, Danny appeared at the base of the stairs.

* * *

Sorry! Been busy! Now that school is out I'll be able to update more (not that I will, just that I'll be able to!)! And sorry for the short-ness!


	7. The Return

Star began to look up, but Paulina noticed and she not-so-subtly jabbed Star in the ribs with her elbow.

"Oow-" Star's indignant shriek of pain was cut short by Paulina's interjecting,

"Uh, look at this picture Star!" A scowling Star grudgingly leaned over to see what it was and took the album into her own hands, Paulina looked up and feigned surprise. "Oh, Danny! We thought you left!" He smiled nervously before raising his hand to rub the back of his neck but changed his mind halfway through; his sharp wince did not go unnoticed by Paulina. "What happened? Problem while you were out?"

"Uh, I never left Paulina."

"Really? Could've fooled us. Anyways, what's up with this picture?" Danny looked confused for a moment before walking over,

"What pict- oh, _that_ one." He smiled involuntarily and Paulina looked at Star, "That was when my parents finished their ghost portal." Star and Paulina shared a look and another silent conversation, _'So that's why it looked so familiar! It was the green swirly thing in the basement!' 'Yeah, what's with Danny though?' 'Besides the obvious? Well-' 'No! I mean the Danny in the picture! Who wears black and white HAZMAT suits anyways?' 'Phantom does…' 'Paulina! Snap out of it! Danny _Fenton_ is still here!' _Both girls straightened and retuned their attention to the boy in front of them. Danny, who was not versed at all in girl silent-conversations, had a recurring feeling that he was missing something. "Sam took it." Paulina visibly cringed at the mention of her enemy and Danny raised an amused eyebrow. Paulina, a bit angry at Danny's lie, decided to put some pressure onto him,

"So, where _were_ you Danny?"

"Uh, upstairs, in, um, my room." Came the slightly stuttered reply,

"Really?" Paulina's voice gained a sharp edge, "Because when we went up there it didn't look like there was anyone there." His eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth silently for a few seconds before pulling himself together and replying.

"You went in my room? Why?"

"Because Danny," Paulina slammed the album closed on her lap and lightly tossed it onto the coffee table then stood up, "When we were screaming our heads off in your kitchen for at _least_ ten minutes, _nobody_ came! And when Star was attacked by those ecto-weenies, _I_ had to be the one to help her! _I_ had to be the one who was looking for something to get rid of them, and _I_ was the one who sucked them into the thermos-y thing! _Not. You._ And you know what? Now I have a chipped nail, I was covered in goop," Paulina's voice steadily rose and she help up her 'emaciated' fingernail, "I was shot at in that danger zone you call a – oomph!" Star had seen where this was going and, knowing that Paulina would regret their secret getting out more than this, she ungraciously elbowed her friend in the ribs. Paulina, in her extremely agitated state, whirled on the other girl, "What was that for!" Star looked from Paulina to Danny and back,

"Well, um, you know someone doesn't know about something, or about us hmhmm-ing certain something's and doing a certain thing with those something's when a, um, something did something up in someone's, uh, ceiling?" Paulina's eye twitched,

"Star. If you're not going to make sense…DON'T SAT ANYTHING AT ALL!" Throughout all of this, Danny kept still and silent, wondering what in the world Star was talking about, and how a certain flame-headed 'hunter' was going to pay dearly later when he had enough time. Star took hold of her friend's shoulders and began to speak soothingly,

"Relax Paulina, there's shopping, and spa treatments, and shoes, and prom dresses, and boys, and clothes, and tanning, and popularity, and-"Star's speaking was interrupted as Paulina raised her hand,

"Okay, that's enough Star. And thanks, I lost myself for a moment."

"It was nothing Paulina." Paulina sighed,

"I know, but I felt like being nice for a second there. And you're still going to owe me that shirt by the way." Paulina brushed past Star's incredulous face and sat back down onto the couch. Danny, noticing that Star wasn't moving, stood in front of her and snapped his fingers a couple of times. When Star slowly started showing signs of coming to, he waited for a moment. Then, just as Star was about to turn to Paulina, he grabbed her shoulders and made her face him. For a moment, Star just stood there in shock and her heart stopped, his face was right in front of hers and one of his eyebrows was raised. _'Wow, I'm actually jealous of the goth gi- Sam, he's so cute…Wait! No, he's a loser, he's a loser, he's a…Makes me wish I was one too.'_ Before either she or Paulina could say anything though, he spoke,

"What was _that_?" Star fidgeted,

"Well, uh, you see…" She looked to Paulina for help, Paulina graciously complied.

"It was something Star and I came up with for when one's agitated or about to say something that we'd otherwise not want to be said. It can go on for hours." Danny's astounded eyes met hers,

"_Hours?_ Seriously?"

"Yes. And now, '_seriously_'" Paulina made air quotes and sneered, "Where. Were. You." The anger was leaking back into her voice, and Danny knew he was in for it if he didn't tell her the truth, but he _couldn't_ tell her the truth. He was cornered. He couldn't say he was in the house, because they combed through it looking for him…but, the lab. They couldn't have gone in there, but they might have suspected he'd be down there and kept watch on it. Plus, _he walked down the stairs_. They might be thick, but they weren't stupid. At least most of the time.

"I was, uh, you see…"Danny trailed off, looking for a believable excuse,

"Well? I don't have all day you know." Paulina crossed her arms and then began tapping her foot.

"Running errands? Yeah, I was running errands. For my mom." Paulina raised her eyebrows,

"And what errands did you run? Couldn't have been dishes. Or laundry. And definitely not groceries; unless you flew them up to your room invisibly and stashed them in a wall of course." Danny couldn't believe his ears, his mouth opened and his eyes widened again. _'Do they know?'_ The thought kept circling in his head,

"B-but I…H-how'd y-you-"

"Oh can it Danny! We know you ditched us!" Paulina interrupted. Realizing that they didn't know a thing, Danny decided to give them the truth. Or at least part of it.

"Yes Paulina, I ditched you guys." Star's eyebrows went up at his apparent confession and Paulina just drummed her fingers on her crossed arms, "But, it wasn't my choice. I _had_ to."

"And just what did you _have_ to do?"Paulina interjected,

"Well, as I was saying, I _had_ to." Here, Danny paused, not knowing exactly what he was going to say,

"Yes, we know that already. But what was it that you had to do?"

"It was, uh, it was…"

"Ha! I _knew_ it! You're making it up!" Paulina crowed triumphantly,

"Nonono! It's just…I'm embarrassed to tell you…"

"Oh really? And what pray tell are you so embarrassed to tell us about?"

"I…" Danny could practically see the lightbulb – no, even _he_ had to admit – candle appear over his head, "I was applying for a job."

"What's so embarrassing about that?" Star piped up in the background,

"…At the Nasty Burger."

"Oh…"

"Oh come on! Valerie has a job there; it's not that embarrassing Danny."

"Well, it's just that…"

"Just that what?"

"…I got turned down…" There was silence for a moment before the girls burst into laughter and flopped onto the couch holding on to their stomachs. Danny's ears reddened and he tried to regain some respect back after announcing his imaginary job denial,

"Well, it wasn't that I wasn't good enough-" The girls laughed harder and Paulina spoke up,

"Obviously! _No one_ **isn't** good enough for the Nasty Burger!"

"Yes well, they were full! And they didn't have space for a new employee!"

"Oh really? So that's why we saw the 'Work Wanted' sign in their window the other day?"

"They had already found someone!"

"Who would be so eager to get a job there of all places?" This silenced Danny, and he decided to retreat with what dignity he had left and brood silently until they were somewhat calmer.

After what seemed like hours, Paulina and Star finally calmed down enough to sit upright. Paulina wiped her eyes to rid herself of any tears caused by their laughter. It was then that she noticed what he was wearing. Or, to put it better, what was draped over his shoulders. Of all the things in the house, he had chosen to wear a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Paulina turned to Star and jerked her head in his direction.

"Get your camera." She mouthed,

"Why?" Star mouthed back.

"I want to prove to the other A-list girls that we're not crazy when we tell them about him." Star nodded and then turned to her purse and started rummaging around. Paulina got up and walked over to him, then stood with her hands on her hips.

"Why are you wearing that?" Danny spun around and came face-to-face with her, their noses almost touching; his arms shot out and he stumbled backwards. Paulina raised her eyebrows. "Well?"

"I was, uh, cold."

"Well Star is too. And that is the only clean blanket around."

"There's another one in-"

"Nonononono. You live here, you're the host. Give her that one and just go get another. Whats wrong with that?"

"Um, it's just that, uh," He looked down at himself, "There's a stain on it."

"So?" Came the retort, "It's not like it's covered in blood." Danny licked his lips apprehensively and kept chanting, _'They don't know. They don't know. They don't know.'_ in his head.

"Well I'm sure she would rather have a clean one so I'm, just gonna go upstairs and get one-"

"Just give me the dumb blanket Danny!"

"Why? What's so special about this one?" Paulina, fed up with his stubbornness, reached out and grabbed the blanket as fast as she could. Too bad it wasn't fast enough.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Let _go_!"

"It's just a blanket Danny!"

"NO already!" Knowing he would either accidentally let go of the blanket or it would flap open, he yanked up. And lifted her off the ground. Star's mouth hung open, but Paulina was quick to exploit anything.

"Ahh! My arm!" _'Oh no,'_ Danny thought, _'What did I _do_?'_ He quickly lowered her to the floor and knelt over her,

"Are you okay Paulina? You're not hurt are you?"

"No," she whispered, then her voice rose to a yell, "I'm just cold!" And with a last tug, tore the blanket off him. The girls gaped at him, whatever they had been expecting; a bloody Danny hadn't been it. He had a long cut from his right shoulder to mid abdomen. It looked like a shallow one, but they couldn't be sure.

"Um, Paulina, I can explain…" Danny calmly intoned, but he had no answer. The silence was broken by a sharp, 'Click!' followed by a flash, coming from Star, who was holding the camera she had taken from her purse.

* * *

I am SO sorry I haven't updated sooner! I have had ¾ of this story on my laptop ALL SUMMER! Please forgive me!...and review. :P


	8. Discovered

_The silence was broken by a sharp, 'Click!' followed by a flash, coming from Star, who was holding the camera she had taken from her purse._

Star was frozen in shock, and temporarily forgetting Paulina, Danny slowly stretched his arm towards her.

"Star, it's not what it seems. I am _fine_, just give me the camera and-"

"No!" The yell tore itself from Star's throat as the shock began to wear off and she backed up. "Y-you're not fine! You're bleeding and-and…" Unable to go on, Star tripped on her own feet and landed heavily on the floor. Danny began to get up and tried his best to calm her,

"No, it's not that bad, just-"

"D-danny? Wha-what's going on?" Paulina's small voice came from below him, Danny mentally cursed, this was hard enough with only Star. _'At least Paulina's not freaking out.'_ He looked down at her to see two large aquamarine eyes staring at his own. Eyes that studiously avoided his injury. He cleared his throat,

"Well, uh, you see…"

"Are, are you in a _gang_?" She whispered. He stopped for a moment before beginning to laugh,

"G-gang? Oh, _wow _Paulina, that's almost the opposite of what I do!" He kept on laughing and the girls glanced at each other, wondering if he had gone mad,

"Th-then what _do_ you do?" Star asked hesitantly, still backed up against the wall, her knees against her chest,

"Gang, never heard _that_ one before…" Danny smiled for a brief moment, "I, uh…it's complicated." He raised his arm to rub the back of his neck again and once more winced.

"Well you, uh, you shouldn't be doing it if you get hurt…" Paulina said hesitantly,

"I'm _fine_."

"Stop saying that!" Paulina finally exploded, "You're ripped open and bleeding all over the place and you're NOT fine!"

"Don't worry about it Paulina! I have enough with Sam as it is! You never cared before, so you don't have to start pretending now. Just, just forget about it. I'm fi-, I'm perfectly okay. Now just give me the camera Star!" Danny stood up and began reaching out for the camera clutched tightly in Star's hands.

"Star! Don't do it!" Danny's head snapped back to Paulina,

"_What_?" He hissed, "Why not!"

"Because I do not want to be called crazy!" Paulina yelled, Danny looked at her in confusion, and then his eyes widened.

"No! You can't! Do you know hard it was to set up the image I have right now? It took me four _years_! I'm not about to let that go to waste! So give to me Star or I'll take it my force!" Star, shaking in shock, began uncurling her fingers from around the camera,

"Star! He's bluffing!" Paulina had crawled out from under Danny and now stood near the entrance to the living room. And when Danny turned to look at her, Star fled. Sprinting full speed out the door without thinking. Paulina turned and disappeared just as quickly. Danny stared at the empty doorways for half a second before cursing, spinning on his heel, and sliding down the wall. He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled,

"_Great_. What am I going to do now?" Then he stood up, walked up the stairs, and bandaged his chest to keep the blood from dripping onto the floor. He didn't bother disinfecting it, it would be gone by the next day. Walking to his room, he phased through the door and walked intangibly to his cell phone, turning tangible only long enough to grab it; he turned intangible again to keep the mess from sticking to him and walked back out of his room. He called Sam and a few seconds later she picked up,

"Danny? What's up?"

"There's a problem."

"What? What happened? Does it have to do with your parents? Did you get stuck in the Ghost Zone or something? Hold on and don't move! I'll be right over with Tuck and we'll get the Specter Speeder-"

"_Sam_."

"Oh, sorry." He could practically see the faint blush on her cheeks,

"It's Paulina. And Star." A few blocks away, two running girls heard an infuriated screech of _'WHAT?'_ They looked at each other before running faster. He'd called the goth girl.

"Tell me _everything_. _Now_."

"Well, they came to my house this morning and-"

"Why did they go to your house? What could they have possibly been doing over there?" Sam gasped, "They must have been suspicious! Great! Now what'll we do? They probably set up camera's or something-"

"Sam, its Paulina and Star." The line was quiet for a moment before Sam spoke again,

"Yeah, you're probably right. They probably wanted to humiliate you or something."

"Actually, they were lost."

"How could they be lost?"

"Skulker."

"Oh. He should have caught them, it would've done the world some good. He must be worse than we thought if he let two snobby, stuck-up, Barbie doll wannabe's go."

"Yeah. And then he came after me! So I had to leave them alone!" Danny began pacing, just then noticing the pile of Fenton inventions on the floor,

"I guess they went looking for me."

"You _idiot_! How could you do that! How do you know they were looking for you?"

"It seems one of them opened the door to the extra room."

"Isn't that where…"

"Yup." Sam began laughing on the other end of the line,

"Ohhh! I wish I could've seen the looks on their faces when it fell on them!"

"Hold on, I want to see something really quick," He turned his head intangible and looked through his door at the floor. "Yeah, they went in my room too."

"Didn't your dad explode something in there?"

"Yes, seems like they found out firsthand. Someone opened the door and a whole pile fell on them, used my hockey stick to sweep out a path too…" Sam's laughs turned into guffaws,

"What did they look like when you got home? Rats drowned in ectoplasm?" Danny's forehead creased,

"No, they looked the same as always. A little windblown…"

"What? How could they have gotten clean? Ectoplasm stains!"

"Not sure. And it only stains sometimes."

"But you said-"

"If you use the Fenton Weasel on it the stuff comes right…off. Oh no." Danny ran down the stairs and sprinted for the door to the lab. It was locked but…

"Oh, that's nice. Wait, what's wrong?"

"The Weasel's in the lab." They must not have gotten in, or…He ran to the pantry.

"But, then they'd have to-"

"I know." Danny picked up the fudge and scowled, "And they did."

"Danny, I'm coming over right now. Call Tucker."

"Oka- beeeeeep." Danny glared at the phone for a moment for interrupting him. He hated it when Sam just hung up like that. Quickly dialing a different number in, he pressed the phone to his ear and waited for another few minutes.

"Hey, it's Tucker! Tucker Foley, T.F. for Too Fine! Sorry if I missed your call ladies, but I'm a bit busy at the moment. Call you back as soon as I can, bye! Beeeep."

"Tuck, you really need to change your voicemail. It's really creepy, especially when a guy is calling. Now head over to my house ASAP. We've got a problem." Sighing in exasperation, Danny ended the call. Of course, the ONE time Tucker decided to not pick up his phone…At least Sam was coming. He needed her level head. Just then, said person burst in through the door and looked around wildly.

"Danny! I got over here as soon as possible and – why the heck are you sitting there?"

"I just called Tucker –"

"_Do_ something! Overshadow one of them and undo whatever it is they did! Or destroy evidence or _something_!"

"They took a picture of me Sam." She shot him a confused look,

"What? You got me all worked up for _that_?"

"Sam, look." Danny lifted his shirt and unpeeled the bandages, the gash was significantly smaller, but Sam had learned to gauge the original sizes of his injuries.

"How long ago?"

"Uh, fifteen minutes maybe?"

"Geez Danny! How could you have been so _stupid_! That thing was huge!"

"I know okay! I don't need this! What I need is someone to help me come up with a plan!" Sam marched towards him, murder glinting in her eyes,

"_What_? Danny! This is a big deal! Knowing who it was, the news is probably all over Amity! I just want to –" An incessant ringing filled the air and Danny ran back to the couch to pick up the receiver,

"Hey! The ladies dig that voicemail!" Danny didn't even bother to hide his snort,

"_What_ ladies?"

"_Hey_! And sure, I'm on my way. Just eating, didn't want to get barbeque sauce all over my babies…" Danny pretended to shudder,

"TMI Tucker, TMI."

"Yeah, whatever. See ya."

"Bye." Sam eyed him, giving him a look that meant _'I'm not done with you'_. He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Finally caving in to her sympathy, she sat by him and rubbed circles into his back.

"So what exactly is the situation?" She questioned softly,

"Paulina wants to show everyone the picture. Sam, it's just so _hard_…"

"It's okay Danny, we'll get through, we always have." Danny sat up straighter and gave her a quavering smile,

"Thanks Sam, I don't know what I would do without you. Or Tucker." He added hastily. She just smiled,

"Yeah, same here." Just then, Tucker burst in through the door and stopped upon seeing them,

"You two better not have interrupted my after-lunch snack just to tell me you're finally getting together." Both blushed and turned away from each other. Finally, Danny cleared his throat.

"No, it's uh, something else." Tucker raised his eyebrows,

"Such as?..."

"Paulina and Star." Tucker's eyebrows rose even higher and he plopped down on the couch by Danny,

"Do tell."

"They got lost this morning after being chased by Skulker –"

"_Skulker_? You're telling me _Skulker_ couldn't catch two high school girls in high heels?"

"I know. But back to the point, they found the house and I let them in –"

"And you didn't call to tell me you had two hot girls over at your house? What kind of best friend are you?" Danny shot him an irritated look,

"Anyways, Skulker came back and I had to go catch him, so they were here alone – _Don't_," Danny held up a finger in front of his friend's face, "Interrupt me. So while they were here I guess they went looking for me, the opened the guest room," Danny glared at his friend's open mouth until it closed, "Good, and then they went into my room. And yes, my dad did explode something up there this morning." Tucker grinned manically,

"Man, I wish I could have seen the looks on their faces!"

"Yeah, me and Sam too. But they didn't have any ectoplasm on them, none at all. And the only way to get ectoplasm off is with the Fenton Weasel, which is in the lab."

"Don't tell me you left the door unlocked, remember last time –" This time, it was Danny's turn to interrupt,

"No, I locked the door. I'm sure of it, right before I left I ran to the door and double-checked to make sure it was locked."

"Then how'd they get in?"

"I'm guessing my dad's back-up key. The one under the fudge."

"So they went into the lab and?..."

"From then on I'm not so sure."

"Then what're we waiting for? To the basement!" And with that, Tucker jumped up and ran to the lab door. Danny and Sam shared a look before rolling their eyes and following pursuit, walking of course. The two found Tucker standing by the locked door,

"The door's re-locked, so –" Danny grabbed Sam's wrist and without hesitating phased them both through the door. "Hey! No fair! Just 'cause she's your girlfrie – Aaaaaah!" Tucker was cut off suddenly when an arm shot out through the door and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him through. On the other side, Sam was laughing quietly and Danny was smirking slightly while holding a disgruntled Tucker up in the air with one arm,

"Tucker, one more girlfriend quip and I'll phase you halfway through the wall and leave you there." Tucker nodded and Danny put him on the ground,

"Awwww! You stretched my shirt! Again!" Tucker whined, but Danny and Sam were already on their way down the cement stairs,

"Not my fault," He called up, not bothering to turn around, "You need to stop being so annoying."

"Hmph." Tucker groused, before jogging down the stairs behind the pair. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Danny stopped abruptly, leaving Sam and Tucker to bump into his stiff form. The collisions of two bodies against him didn't even make him stumble, in fact, it didn't make him move at all.

"Geez Danny! At least give us some warning when you're gonna do that!" Tucker complained, rubbing his nose.

"Does something seem, I don't know, _off_ about the place?" Tucker stopped and looker around Danny at the lab,

"Not really…"

"Not talking to you Tuck."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, a little I guess." Sam said hesitantly, "It's just so…"

"Clean?" Danny supplied, "Because it is. It's clean, _too_ clean." He looked around, eyes narrowed, "My dad would never clean the place, my mom has trouble keeping just the house clean, and Jazz can't stand the place."

"Well what about you?" Tucker piped up. Danny finally turned around to face him,

"Tuck, I don't even keep my own _room_ clean. Why would I do that with the _lab_ of all places?" Sam started pushing on Danny, and when he noticed he finally gave way and unblocked the entrance to the lab.

"_Finally_. I thought you two would never shut up." She said airily, and walked calmly into the lab. Pursing her lips, she paused in the middle of the lab and turned around to face the boys with crossed arms,

"Okay. First of all, Tuck: to the computer." Sam smiled and pointed in the machine's direction, "We need to use the security camera video's to find out exactly what they did down here."

THERE! I _finally_ finished this chapter! Sorry if it seems kind of forced, but I couldn't picture the beginning. :P Flames welcomed, reviews even more! Tell me if anyone seems OOC! Constructive criticism is my motivation for publishing more chapters! So review! :D


	9. The Kitchen

"_Okay. First of all, Tuck: to the computer." Sam smiled and pointed in the machine's direction, "We need to use the security camera videos to find out exactly what they did down here."_

Tucker saluted with Sam with a grin, letting himself fall backwards for a moment before catching himself to spin around and jog to the desk against the wall. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Danny, we're going upstairs to see if they got to anything else, let's start with the kitchen since they were obviously there." As they started up the stairs Tucker quipped from the computer desk,

"Suuure, take _Danny_. Lovebirds…" only to have the two deny…in synchronization, as usual.

"We're _not_ lovebirds!" Tucker swiveled around in the chair with a raised eyebrow,

"'Course you're not. You," He pointed a finger at Sam, "Just freak out and go crazy whenever you think _he's_ in danger. You," This time he pointed at Danny, "Do the same whenever _she's_ in danger. Both of you get jealous and angry when the other's dating someone and both of you deny your total lovebirdiness in synchronization. Yeah, we're _all_ wrong about you two." Two deeply blushing faces soon disappeared upstairs while Tucker chuckled and turned back around to face the computer, cracking his knuckles loudly. "Works every time…"

The short trip up the stairs was a quiet, serious one. At least, it was until they exited through the door. In one quick motion, Danny jumped forward, laughing and pushing Sam lightly to the side as he raced for the kitchen. Sam's loud protest as she stumbled sideways was soon overcome by her yell of "Cheater!" Deciding that the situation was not worthy of pursuit, she continued, "You know you can't beat me normally, so you sabotage me! _Real_ mature Danny!" Danny's head emerged from the kitchen entrance, full of innocence,

"Mature? Who, me? Do I _look_ like Jazz?" Scowling playfully, Sam stuck her tongue out at him,

"Whatever. See anything interesting?"

"Not at the moment, you look around on that side," Danny motioned to the general area around the pantry, "And I'll brave the fridge." Sam put her hands on her hips, but the smile on her face showed she was joking,

"What? Think I can't handle some ecto-weenies?" Danny shrugged.

"Naw, but I thought you'd prefer searching through cookie crumbs rather than getting covered in radioactive back-from-the-dead meat sludge. But if you really want to..." Sam sighed and turned towards the pantry,

"I reallly hate it when you're actually right. And they're _hotdogs_. They never _were_ alive." Making his way over to the fridge, Danny _pfft_-ed,

"Yeah, you know what I mean." After a few more minutes of silently searching for other signs of invasion, Sam let out a surprised sound. Turning around, Danny was greeted with the view of Sam pounding on a stray ecto-weenie with her fists, eventually knocking it onto the ground and stomping on it with her combat boots to hold it down. Danny let out an amused snort before searching through the drawers for the spare thermos they had in there. Eventually finding it, he aimed it at her and pressed the button. _This_, my friends, is when things stared to go wrong. The previously contained ecto-weenies from the thermos were disgorged upon a horrified Sam, who proceeded to forget the one she was standing on and swat at the ones currently clinging to her. Her angry glares were not lost on Danny, who proceeded to jump forward and swat them off as well, occasionally blasting the ones fallen to the flor to keep them from climbing back on.

"Crapcrapcrapcrap_crap!_ Sam hold still!" Finally fed up, Sam kicked Danny's shin, causing him to yelp in pain and stumble back as she finally screamed,

"I'm calling Jack!He seems to be the only one able to handle these things, and if my week is ruined by your dad and his possessed food, you're _ALL_ going to pay!" At the mention of their currently departed master, the weenies retreated and withdrew back under the counter. Sam then pointed to Danny who was still rubbing his shin, "Open the fridge." Walking over to said device, Danny pulled open the door. "Okay, now get back in there you demented little creatures. If I see even _one_ of you not in there in thirty seconds I'm firing up the grill and calling Jack!" The weenies, sensing the threat was very real, immediately scurried back into the fridge whose door was promptly shut by Danny. Sam looked at Danny and snorted,

"Well _you_ handled that well. Sorry for kicking you by the way." Danny waved his hands in the air,

"What was I _supposed _to do? Laugh at you? And no you're not!"

"I don't know _ghost-boy_, what _should_ you have done? And you're right."

"What? Blast them _while they're crawling all over you?_"

"Oh I don't know, how about turning me _intangible?_" Danny opened his mouth...and promptly closed it.

"Fine. Maybe I shouldn't have overreacted like that, I guess I-" From down in th basement they heard a faint yell of,

"Guys, get down here! I found something!" The two stared at each other for a silent moment, then, as if coming to an agreement, shot off towards the basement door. Sam, as expected, was in the lead. At least, she ws until she came up to the still-locked door. Coming up short, she turned just in time to see Danny fly (not literally of course) past her through the door of the basement and heard his whoop of victory.

"Oh be quiet! You know that if the door hadn't been locked I would've won! Now unlock this door and let me in!" Sam could vaguely hear the sound of feet climbing up the stairs slowly. "Danny!" She yelled, pounding on the door with her fists, "Quit messing around!" The door seemed to disappear, and for a moment she almost plowed on straught through the seemingly clear opening. But she and Danny had pulled this trick on Tucker too many times to fall for it. "Fine. If you want to do it that way..._intangible_ too you dork!" Danny's smiling face appeared across from her,

"Who said it wasn't that way in the first place?" Sam sighed,

"Whatever. You shouldn've known I wouldn't fall for it, we've pulled this on Tucker _how_ many times?" From down the stairs, she could hear Tucker's yell of,

"Yeah! Just _how _many times have you done that? Anyways, get down here guys!" Finally moving forwards, Sam walked through the door,

"Get moving Danny. We need to see what they did." The smile on his face faltered for a second and Sam almost regretted what she had said. But in the next instant the two were running down the stairs and her fleeting thought of an apology was lost as they went to see what Tucker had found. By the computer, Tucker was typing and clicking away as he searched through the computer's history to see what else the girls had seen.

Eventually, a video popped onto the screen, but before they could see anything clearly Tucker began fast forwarding. Ignoring Sam and Danny's annoyed _'Hey!_'s, he continued, mumbling to himself.

"Mmm...walking down the stairs covered in goop, setting off something, hacking the computer..." Pausing, Tucker sat up straight, "Hacking the computer? Hey! That's _my_ thing!" As he rewinded the video Sam and Danny looked at each other and rolled their eyes before Sam realized something,

"Covered in goop? Rewind it Tucker! I _have_ to see this!" Ignoring her order, Tucker watched as Star managed to get on the computer.

"Tall, blonde, beautiful _and_ a budding computer hacker? We're _made_ for each other!" He exclaimed ecstatically before turning to Danny and giving his friend a fierce hug. Sam huffed and shoved the boy away from the computer screen,

"If you want something done while Tucker's around might as well do it yourself...hmph."

* * *

Hehe...well it was short so I decided to elongate it! :P Just...don't reread the beginning of the chapter I guess?...


End file.
